Sections

Armed policemen prepare to patrol last week near the site of the explosion in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Police have detained five terrorism suspects in the restive western region. Photo: (ANDY WONG/The Associated Press)

BEIJING —Police in China’s restive northwest have detained five terrorism suspects and seized 1.6 tonnes of raw materials that could be used to make bombs,state media said Tuesday.

The governmental news portal Tianshan Net said Tuesday that police in the Hotan section of the Xinjiang region destroyed two bomb-making workshops in the operation.

The Muslim region has seen rising violence that China blames on secession-seeking terrorists. An attack last week in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi left 43 people dead when men rammed vehicles through a vegetables market and tossed explosives.

Tianshan says the suspects detained in Hotan had planned a similar scheme. It says the suspects had watched materials promoting violence and religious extremism.

Following last week’s attack, China says it will strike harder on terrorism.